The baron wore his official attire of office, a very fancy suit with many medals pinned to his chest. His smile was infectious, and he could not conceal his excitement. His wife wore an elegant green, silk dress that billowed out nearly seven feet. Duke Leo, his arm around Lida, also wore a very well made silk suit, befitting an heir to a throne. Lida wore a matching light blue dress; her hair done up nicely. She could not contain her excitement.
“Oh Zoran! You did it! You have made history! I am so proud of my little brother!” she exclaimed, rushing to him and giving him a huge hug and kiss. “Your eyes! Oh, I do like their new color!”
“Congratulations nephew!” Baron Milan said, his bass voice echoing in the room. “Well done indeed! This will shake up the establishment!”
“I can’t take credit for building this. Priestess Anezka Zar performed the ceremony and Brother Jiri Zar built this new Circle. Come on you two. I want you to shake hands with my uncle.” Both timidly stepped forward and shook hands with the Baron.
“Someone’s coming through,” Jarka announced. Hastily, Zoran moved the four back behind his security guards. All eyes watched for more bodies materializing in the center of this new Circle.
Zoran, his uncle, and others recognized them at once. Zoran announced formally, “I give you my uncle, Baron Viktor Pavel of Valtr, Baroness Ivana, Duke Stefan, and my sister Rayna Vladislov. Welcome to the House of the Free People of Brn and Adapazan.”
Baron Viktor wore an elegant brown silk suit, and his grin could not have been broader. His wife wore a matching brown silk dress that also billowed out seven feet. Duke Stefan wore a slightly lighter shade of brown silk suit with twin tails. Rayna, radiant and very excited, also wore a billowing light blue silk dress, matching her sister’s dress.
“Oh little brother! It worked! You did it!” Rayna exclaimed, rushing to hug Zoran.
“Well done, Baron Zoran, well done indeed!” Baron Viktor added, shaking his hand firmly. “This will certainly shake up all of the Houses!” At once, he and his party moved to join with Baron Milan, and the two men began chatting, while their wives exchanged words as well.
Lida and Rayna clung to their brother and to their fiancés as well. Zdenka and Jarka felt rather embarrassed. Their simple dresses looked awful compared to these elegant ladies.
“Say, come on. I have a sight that I’d like you eight to see — well all of you ought to see this sight,” Zoran interrupted everyone. “This way; let’s step outside the Archmage Oldrich’s tower.” Zdenka took Zoran’s arm, as his sisters finally let go of him. A minute later, the large group stood outside the five story, plain looking tower, there at the northern edge of Brn. They were not alone. Everyone who lived in Brn was also outside staring up at the sky around the tower.
Thirteen gold dragons, the sunlight reflecting off of their shiny skin, flew in wide circles around the tower. Such a sight had never before been seen anywhere in the entire Federation of Planets! Some soared up high and then dived, others did barrel rolls. Two of the smaller forms swooped down onto the only empty patch in the crowded streets, there just before Zoran and the tower. After landing, their forms morphed into the two young Archmages.
“Allow me to introduce to all of you to Archmages Emil and Renata Vogler, twin gold dragons,” Zoran spoke formally as the twins, grinning, walked up to the group.
“That is the most beautiful sight that I have ever seen, Renata!” Rayna spoke first. “You and the others — why you are just beautiful. I had no idea.”
“Indeed, spectacular flying,” Uncle Milan added. “Say, can we talk, Archmage Emil? I have a million questions I’d like to ask.” Baron Viktor stood beside Baron Milan, eager to hear Emil’s answer.
“Of course, though our father is more experienced in dealing with humans. Why don’t you chat with him?” Emil cleverly sidestepped the questioning. A spell cast, Aldrick flew down, landing on the street. He morphed into his human form and came up to his son. “Dad, these barons have a lot of questions for us. I figured you would know better how to answer them.”
Aldrick grinned; his son was doing just what he had asked of him. “Certainly, barons, come, I understand that Archmage Oldrich has refreshments awaiting us.”
General Janos returned to stand guard over the Circle of Ascension. He fully expected that many other barons may come to check out this new Circle, just as soon as they discovered the new sky blue thread addition to their own Circles. The others headed into the first floor meeting room, where the Archmage was awaiting them — she had had her staff prepare various breads, teas, and juices.
“Please, barons, baronesses, dukes, accept my humble hospitality. I have but a simple, frugal tower,” Archmage Oldrich said in her usual soft manner. “Now if you will excuse me, my body is a bit tired. I will leave you to your discussions.” After the men rose and thanked her, she left.
“Baron Zoran, we have much to discuss, but I would like the opportunity to meet Aldrick first,” Uncle Milan explained.
“Go ahead, uncle; it is not every day that you get to talk firsthand with a gold dragon,” Zoran teased. Zdenka shot him a grin.
“First, where do you all come from?”
“From a planet called Voss.”
“How? I mean do you have means of travel, such as our Shadow Walk?”
“Something that is similar, I believe. I’ve never been given a Shadow Walk so I cannot say for sure. We can only travel between planets with which we are familiar. Archmage Oldrich was my teacher many years ago. I am familiar with Adapazan.”
“Well, it would be my honor to give you a Shadow Walk, say to my planet of Gladno later today,” Baron Milan replied.
“And I would be honored to also take you to my world of Valtr,” Baron Viktor added quickly, unwilling to be left out. Too much was at stake here.
“Excellent, then I will have a way to compare our travel with yours,” Aldrick replied.
“How is it that you need to come to Adapazan? To learn magic?” asked Baron Viktor.
“Yes and no. We golds prize two things above all others: gems and magic. Our lives are devoted to the acquisition of large gems and learning all the magic we can. Well, we also tend to collect magical items, but those are scarce. So, yes, I brought our twins here to learn magic from Archmage Oldrich. She is a good teacher and it has paid off handsomely. Both our twins have achieved Archmage status, something seldom achieved among golds. That is the yes part.”
“There is a vastly more important reason for our coming to Adapazan. Back on Voss, I am afraid to say this, but we have overpopulated our world. There are virtually no hoofed animals left on Voss. Slowly, we are all starving to death. I pointed this out to our High Council over four years ago, but they chose to ignore my dire warning. Sofie and I were barely able to get enough antelope to feed our twins. Zoran has kindly allowed more of us to come and live here where food is plentiful and abundant.”
“He is also allowing some of us to establish gem cutting businesses here in Brn. You see, we mine for raw gems and then we cut them into exquisite stones. Golds are particularly skilled at this. He has kindly given us the mining rights to the inaccessible areas of the mountains around Brn Province, where we dig for our both homes and gems. In time, the humans here will come to discover the high quality work that we do. I expect that this will be a very profitable venture for both our races.”
A totally unexpected phenomenon occurred within Zoran’s mind. He suddenly knew that Baron Aldo Monda of the agrarian planet of Cosma wanted to arrive at his Circle! “Excuse, me, but Baron Aldo wants to come here. I must go meet him.”
“Allow him to join us. Also allow Baron Tom Witherspoon and Baron Etienne Gervaise to come; they are our allies,” Uncle Milan hastily interjected his wishes.
“I would not allow your enemies to come, if I were you,” Uncle Viktor added. “Specifically, Bogdan Clav, Cheng Meerong, Carwyn Alun, Eckhard Hadwig, and your father. The others are neutral.”
“Thanks, I have to talk with
you about the politics soon, I can see that!” Zoran replied. He and Zdenka left to meet with Baron Aldo. No sooner than Baron Aldo materialized within Zoran’s new Circle of Ascension than his senses detected a request from Barons Tom and Etienne. Zoran smiled, he guessed that his uncle had alerted his allies to the possibility of a new Circle appearing. He allowed both men to materialize, but wondered if he would always know who was going to arrive at his Circle.
Shock, surprise, wonderment, excitement, and keen interest shown from the faces of the three men as they shook hands with Zoran and Zdenka. Their faces flickered from one expression to the other, rapid fire. Baron Aldo was in his fifties, a tall, thin man with a black moustache. His planet, Cosma, was primarily an agrarian one. Baron Tom likewise was in his fifties. He was short and stout, but his blue eyes missed nothing. Like Aldo, he ruled over a planet mostly devoted to the growing of crops, Terra. Both Terra and Cosma exported vast amounts of grain to the other planets. Baron Etienne was in his mid-forties. His planet, Gonda, consisted mostly of rolling grasslands filled with horses. Yes, these were primarily horsemen; Etienne was thin with long blonde hair and even smelled of horses.
Zoran gave them his welcome address, introducing the Zars and explaining their roles in construction of the Circle. “We owe everything to Warlord Mikolas of Sholov Province. He discovered Bandar Zar’s secret chamber beneath his fortress and commissioned the Zars to build him a Circle. Unfortunately, he was killed this past summer by Baron Kazimir, but we rescued the Zars and the documents, keeping them out of the clutches of my dad. I assure you, Baron Kazimir will never get his hands on them!” All three men replied that this was a very wise decision on Zoran’s part.
“Come, you must see the sight of our Circle’s protectors. We have over a dozen gold dragons here providing protection for us and the tower.” He and Zdenka took the three men outside to view the dragons that were still flying around the general area of the tower. All three men were most impressed with the dragons, especially when Zoran told them that Barons Milan and Viktor were inside talking with them. They insisted on joining the pair, as Zoran knew that they would.
“Ah there you are, Tom, Etienne, Aldo, I would like you to meet Aldrick Vogler, a gold dragon from Voss!” Baron Milan greeted the three as they entered.
Just then, Zoran’s Circle commanded his attention. He hastily excused himself, and Zdenka and he raced down the stairs. “Bogdan and Kazimir want permission to come. Damn them anyway.”
“Perhaps you should allow them to come and see that we have Archmages and dragons protecting us,” Zdenka advised cautiously. “After all, if they see them with their own eyes, they will believe that they are real. Kazimir already knows how devastating two young ones can be.”
“You are probably right, dear. Just stay on your guard. I don’t trust these men, not even remotely!” Zoran told General Janos who was coming and to be prepared. Janos gave a wry smile, and Zoran realized that the General would be savoring this meeting with his ex-Baron.
The two barons arrived at the center of this new Circle. “You!” exclaimed Kazimir angrily, as he recognized his son and realized that his son now was his rival here on Adapazan!
“Hello Baron Kazimir, Baron Bogdan,” Zoran said quietly, still unwilling to acknowledge his familial relationship with this man. “Welcome to the House of the Free People of Brn and Adapazan. You are in Archmage Oldrich’s tower, guarded by a half dozen Archmages, to say nothing of all the many Mages here. General Janos Lavos is in charge of our security, along with over a dozen gold dragons. At the moment, the dragons are giving us a flying demonstration. If you two will follow me, I will show you our dragons, which live with us. I believe that Baron Kazimir knows all too well about gold dragons.”
“Damn you, Zoran! It was you! You murdered your own brother!” spit flew from the violently shaking, raging man.
“Sorry, Baron, I cannot take credit for that. You murdered your own son by your ill-conceived war against free people. I didn’t lay a finger on Radek nor any of your soldiers. I was too busy rescuing the Zars and the ancient documents of Bandar Zar, which told us how to build this new Circle of Ascension. Warlord Mikolas was about to have his own Circle, when you attacked. His dying wish was for me to carry on and build the first new Circle in centuries. With his financial backing, I have done so. Ah, there are the fine gold dragons.”
Both men stared up at the five story stone tower, non-descript in all ways, except for the many golden forms flying around it high in the sky. Snow covered mountains lay behind them, outlining their huge forms. “I can have as many gold dragons come to protect us as I desire,” Zoran added for emphasis. “Besides breathing fire and shooting electrical bolts, they are also very competent magic users. Two are my dear Archmage friends. I am giving you both and your allies fair warning. Do not attack Brn Province or any of the other Wild Lands of Adapazan. If you do, I will summon hundreds of these fine dragons to incinerate your entire army and then your castles. Do I make myself clear? If you send assassins here, I will feed them to these flying creatures, though one man does not make for more than a cookie snack with these fellows. They have such an appetite. I guess we would too if we were a hundred feet long.”
“Son, how could you do this? Why did you not consult with me, your father? I hear that you are in cahoots with those spineless so called do-gooders! They cannot protect you. You and I, we could have been the most powerful men in the entire Federation! Son, it is still not too late to change your ill-thought allegiance,” Baron Kazimir attempted to reason with his son one last time. He was terrified of the winged creatures, having seen his army decimated in minutes by just two of them.
“Someone has to stand up for the free people that remain on Adapazan and stop you from turning them into your slaves. Someone has to stop the march of your army across our world. Your days of conquest here on Adapazan have ended. We are entering a new age. I will not hesitate for an instant to sick my dragons on any army that comes marching across the Wild Lands. I give you my word that I will not attack you, your castle, or the lands that you now control, Baron Kazimir — that is, not unless you provoke me by sending assassins here or sending forth another army to conquer the Wild Lands or Brn.”
“Baron Bogdan, just so you know, dragons can also Shadow Walk. If you try anything, we will come to Rehor and feast on your men, women, and castle. If you send out assassins to harm my sisters or their fiancés, my retribution will be swift and final. Do I make myself clear?”
“Why should I send out assassins, Baron Vladislov?” the cagy, fat Baron Bogdan whined. “I have no quarrel with you or your sisters. It has been made abundantly clear that Kazimir cannot control his own children. Might I ask, was it you that stopped all of the magic from occurring there at the Ceremony of Passing for your mother, right before everything went dark?”
“Yes, I saw that such was needed. I would not allow my mother’s funeral to be so disgraced by men who cannot hold their tempers.”
“Ah, excellent, lad, excellent indeed. You prevented a good deal of bloodshed that day. You have earned my respect, young Baron Vladislov. Well done indeed, Archmage,” Baron Bogdan feigned admiration with a coy smile. “We should meet one day and discuss the future. Baron Kazimir, we ought not take up more of young Baron Vladislov’s time. Thank you for showing us your new Circle of Ascension.”
Zoran followed them back into the tower and basement, verifying that they both did leave and not try some trickery, such as going invisible and attempting to kill. When they were gone, Zdenka commented, “Well, I believe that went well, Zoran. Both men realized just how dangerous it will be to them if they try anything, don’t you think? Bogdan seemed in far better humor today than he was at the Ceremony of Passing for your mother.”
“He’s trying hard not to totally alienate me,” Zoran replied. “You are right; Kazimir’s anger got turned into fear. Maybe he will leave us all alone.”
“Son, I would not count on that,” General Janos broke in, “al
ways expect the vilest treachery from those men.” Zoran smiled; he knew that was true.
When the two and the Zars rejoined the five barons and Aldrick, lunch was being served. Zoran found all six had definitely become friends. Aldrick excused himself; he had a business meeting with the Mayor. Lida changed the topic from business to what interested her and Rayna more, their marriages. “Say, Zoran, Duke Leo and I are going to marry next month, on the twenty-fifth of January. Uncle Milan is hosting our wedding, since mom has passed away.”
Not wanting to be left out, Rayna added, “And Duke Stefan and I are going to marry at the same time. Lida and I are combining our weddings. Uncle Milan has offered to host our wedding as well. We’re all going to go to his palace on Gladno, a double wedding!”
Baron Milan chuckled, “It is more cost effective for me to host one wedding celebration.”
“Yes, and I am quite glad that he’s doing it,” Baron Viktor teased him. Duke Leo and Duke Stefan looked very pleased.
“So when are you and Zdenka marrying?” Lida asked what she really wanted to know. “I know that this is none of your big sister’s business, but Uncle Milan has agreed to host your wedding with ours. We can make it a trio, that is, if it’s not too soon for you, little brother.”
Zdenka flushed and looked at Zoran. “Dear, what do you think? Shall we take up this offer? We are done with our magic training now. If you think this is too soon or if you’d rather marry here in Brn, just say so.”
Before she could reply, Baron Milan spoke softly, “Zoran, Zdenka, your safety is vitally important. I have an ulterior motive in hosting these weddings: your safety. On Gladno, I can guarantee your safety. Here in Brn, I cannot and neither can Baron Viktor or the others. Besides, your mother was my dear sister. I would like to honor her memory by giving you the best possible special wedding day. Please, if only in the memory of my sister.”
“That’s fine with me,” Zdenka timidly replied. “I would love to share our special day with Lida and Rayna. It’s just that I don’t have any appropriate clothes to wear, you know, fancy court dresses and such, and I don’t know a thing about fancy weddings and what I am supposed to do and all that. Honesty, I am totally ignorant of courtly life. I’m sorry to let you all down so badly. I’m just a forest archer, not a courtier.”
Zoran Chronicles Volume 1 A Dragon in Our Town Page 21